Monday, August 30, 2010

Take The Quiz: Are You A Facebook Narcissist?

THIS QUIZ CAUGHT MY EYE ON CNBC THIS MORNING:

Do you regularly update your Facebook status, write wall posts (I admit, have no idea what that is), or publish overtly sexy profile pics? Do you have innordinate numbers of FB 'friends?' If you answer YES to any of these questions new research indicates you may be a Facebook narcissist.

Does it really take an expert to tell us we're living in the age of excessive, obsessive, addictive narcissism? We all have to contend with it to one degree or another. Still, it does seem to be even more pronounced and habit-forming in younger generations.

From the above linked quiz: Experts say that social networks aren’t to blame for narcissism, defined as excessive love, attention on or admiration for oneself, they’re merely a reflection of it. Sites like Facebook and Twitter just feed off the egocentrism of recent generations that’s been cultivated from years of being told by parents that they’re special — children born after the 1980′s are more prone to social network narcissism.

*****

Call me middle aged, which I am. But having a FB page and/or being obsessed with someone else's who talks about intimate, or even mundane, details of their personal lives is a monumental bore and turn-off. I'd rather be doing hundreds of other things. Still I realize these obsessive social networks are big business and big time fillers for all ages, including middle age. If I ever get to the point of spending more than 5 seconds a month on FB or Twitter for that matter, then I promise to go have my head examined.

4 comments:

mRed said...

Unless mentioning that this or that campaign is hot, I'm safe! I hope.

Webutante said...

Yes, we're too middle aged to be too lethal whatever we're mentioning, mRed!!

Anonymous said...

FB is being used for other purposes. A person in my profession formed a page to help all of us in our state to keep informed about what our state government is doing to our profession. We are independent providers who work with children with developmental disabilities. Without FB, we would not be able to connect and organize call-in days, etc. to advocate for these families. My daughter's high school is using a peer mentoring FB page to help freshmen be able to link to their mentors for home work help and support when they are feeling overwhelmed. There are also FB pages for various charities and other people are using FB to promote their business ideas, directly talk to their favorite author, or to listen to music from their favorite singer before it's available to the general public.

Webutante said...

I don't doubt FB is being used for many good purposes. However, the subject of this post is how often it's misused for strictly exhibitionist, selfish and narcissistic purposes....and but by the Grace of God go all of us....FB mentoring can never take the place of face-to-fact parenting and mentoring in the real world day-to-day life, so we all need to adjust our expectations of what it and other sites can really accomplish...it's a tool, like the telephone and computer.

Real relationships are always better if possible....Your point is well taken; thanks for stopping by.